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Sunburn - Health Tips
Manjushree Matadial, DO, FACOEP for Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center offers advice on skin protection during the summer.
As we approach the nice warm summer weather, remember to take caution when you take a day at the beach or in the park to protect your skin from sun damage. The most common type of sun damage in nice, hot warm weather is sunburn. Sunburn is caused by exposure to too much UV light which accelerates the production of melanin which produces a tan to protect the deeper layers of your skin. It is not only on sunny days that you can get sunburn but also on cloudy and hazy days. UV rays also reflect off snow and ice, you can have sunburn in the winter time as well.
The symptoms of sunburn include redness, hot skin to touch, pain or tenderness of your skin, swelling, fluid filled blisters, depending on the surface area headache, fever and fatigue.
Complications include infection of ruptured blisters, photo - aging of your skin which are: wrinkles, dry rough skin, freckles, liver spots, pre-cancerous lesions, skin cancer. Also sunburn of your eyes can lead to cataracts. For adequate protection of your eyes we recommend sunglasses that filter out 99 to 100% of UVA and UVB light. Sunglasses which meet this requirement are often labeled as UV 400.
Treatment for sunburn includes anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen. These are used to treat the swelling and inflammation of your skin and to relieve the pain. It is usually beneficial within the first 24 hours of your sunburn. You can also use hydrocortisone topically which relieves the itching/peeling skin of your sunburn. Apply cold compresses to keep your skin nice and cool, apply moisturizer cream with Aloe Vera to soothe your skin, don't break the blisters that appear on the skin, and drink plenty of fluids.
Prevention of sunburn is geared towards avoiding the sun at the hottest time of the day which is usually between 10am and 4pm. Use sunscreen SPF 15 or greater. According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, SPF 30 or greater is recommended.
Remember to enjoy your summer you need to protect your skin. If you suffer sunburn and have extreme pain or there are signs of infection of sunburn you need to see your physician.
